On Monday, all five members of the FERC, of whom four were appointed by President Trump himself, argued that the proponents of the new request to hike energy payments had failed to demonstrate that current electricity sources are not reasonable.

FERC’s decision is a major win for the green energy industry including solar and wind which rivals the coal and nuclear industries. Conservative activists, several companies, and environmentalists hailed the decision.

However, FERC did offer Perry a small concession. The agency agreed to scrutinize grid operators over their practices and measures to keep power grids resilient, a goal that has been on the Energy Secretary’s mind for quite some time.

FERC Will Not Save Coal and Nuclear Plants

The commission argued that under the Federal Power Act, grid operators can be forced to change tariffs if the federal government proves that those tariffs are preferential, discriminatory, unreasonable or unjust. Perry and his team have failed to prove any of these.

The commission also found that grid operators do not plan any generator retirements that would made the grid less resilient.

The Energy Department proposed the changes in September, under which some grid operators would have been required to share profits with power producers if the power plant had more than 3 months of fuel on-site. Such requirement could be met only by the coal and nuclear plants.

Supporters of the proposal argued that the electric grid is at risk of becoming less resilient and blackout-prone because of the many closures of coal and nuclear plants in recent years. Critics of the proposal said the move would just raise electricity costs by nearly $12 billion just for the sake of the Trump administration’s political motives.Image Source: Maxpixel

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About Amelia Donovan

Amelia got her feet wet in the captivating world of journalism while still in college, working as the editor of the university’s newspaper. She minored in Journalism and Mass Communication before receiving a scholarship at a prestigious German university. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Amelia went on to pursue her biggest passions: journalism and science. She enjoys being up to date with any cutting-edge scientific advancements and her minor in biology allowed Amelia to accurately cover particularly interesting medical topics.